Arsene Wenger has recently stated that Paul Pogba “ticks all boxes” for Manchester United.
On Tuesday, Manchester United completed a reported £89 million signing of Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba. The Frenchman’s transfer saga had been going on all summer, and it was finally put to bed after the club made it official. A number of managers have weighed in with their opinions about the 23-year-old’s arrival at the club. Some have also brought out the negative aspect of the deal, and have ridiculed the fee paid for the player.
Arsene Wenger has never been shy to put his point across to the media, and spoke about Pogba’s arrival at Old Trafford. Speaking with Sky Sports, the Arsenal boss said that the 23-year-old is a decent signing for the English side and that he “ticks all boxes” at the club.
“The value of a player is dependent on his talent, the expected strengthening of the team, his age and of course his resale value.
“When you speak about Pogba, it ticks all these boxes – but we are in a system that we don’t master. We have to follow the prices paid by other people. That has gone up because the availability of money is much higher. That’s why we may have crossed the £100m bar for the first time,” said Wenger.
However, only a week back, Wenger had some not so pleasant things to say about the new signing. Linked with a world-record fee to United for over a month, the Arsenal boss suggested that it was “absolutely crazy” to pay such a staggering fee for a player who is at a relatively nascent age of 23.
“It is completely crazy if you compare it to normal life. That is for sure.
“But we live in a world where every activity that is worldwide makes a lot of money. Football has become a worldwide competition and that is why clubs can afford to do it. Does it make sense in the way the player can give you that investment back? Nobody ever could calculate,” added the Arsenal manager.
Compared to the top five Premier League sides, it’s probably been the worst window for Wenger and his Gunners side. The Frenchman made a big-name signing days into the window by roping in Swiss maestro Granit Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach.
Apart from that, two relatively unknown products in Rob Holding and Takuma Asano have been brought to the Emirates. Regardless of the talent they possess, they’re still not ready to make it to the first team, let alone the starting eleven. With only three weeks left for the window to shut and a huge number of players on the sidelines, it would be wise for Wenger to start acting swiftly before he pays the price for his slack transfer activity.
